It was the morning of the college entrance exam season—our one shot at getting into the national dream school Sky University. That’s when the most popular girl in our school, overheard a shocking rumor: a billionaire’s son was stranded on the outskirts of town.

Without a second thought, she threatened the bus driver, demanding he reroute our shuttle to go rescue him.

In my first life, I stopped her.

I called the police and alerted the school before things went too far. The bus stayed on track, we all arrived at the test center on time and our entire class crushed the exam. Every one of us got accepted into Sky University.

The next day, the news broke: the billionaire's son had married the girl who saved him on exam day. The bride was a college student who helped him during the day of college entrance exam.

When Maggie saw the headlines, she lost it. She dragged me to the rooftop and scolded me. “You’re the reason I lost my shot at marrying rich! You ruined my life!”

Before I knew it, Maggie pushed me off the roof and I died instantly.

The police soon came to the crime scene and questioned our classmates. They found that the others had defended the class' beauty instead.

“He didn’t even make us late,” someone said.

“He ruined Maggie’s chance to marry into money—who wouldn’t snap?”

“He should’ve minded her own business. Honestly, she deserved it.”

Because of the class’s unanimous plea for leniency, Maggie got off with a light sentence.

She became a celebrity even, dubbed the ‘Queen of Love’ by the internet. Maggie monetized her fame the moment she got out of prison—turning her crime into content, turning trauma into cash.

But then—I woke up. I was back on the bus, on the very same morning of the exam. Back to the moment Maggie demanded the driver turn around.

This time, I smiled brightly. “Go for it. Love is way more important than college, right?”

——

Even after she rose to influencer fame, Maggie still wasn’t satisfied. She hired gang members to kidnap my parents and drag them to an abandoned factory. They beat them up without mercy.

Maggie even stepped on my father’s face. “If it weren’t for him, I’d be Mrs. Burton by now. Gabriel died, sure—but that doesn’t make up for the five years of my life she wasted. So I’m collecting the debt—with your lives.”

Then, she pushed my parents off the third floor. My soul was hovering around the scene, screaming desperately, but I couldn’t do anything.

Suddenly, a familiar voice snapped me from my daydream.

“Gabriel, what’s your problem? Do you think you own this bus? Who are you to tell the driver not to turn around?”

I stood frozen as Maggie stormed toward me. The light in her eyes clearly showcased her anger.

“This is Axel Burton we're talking about! The son of a billionaire! Do you even realize how many people are out there just waiting to kidnap someone like him? Every second we waste, he’s in more danger!”

“You’re so heartless. Even if you did get into college, people like you are a blight on society. And by the way, no one else on this bus objected. Ever heard of majority rule?”

At some point, the bus driver had quietly slowed the bus to a crawl. He glanced at me in the rearview mirror and smiled. “Relax, kid. This city’s small. Round trip to the outskirts and back? Thirty minutes, tops. You won’t miss your test.”

That might’ve been true—on any other day.

But this wasn’t just any day. This was the week of college entrance exam. The major road leading to the test sites were jam packed. Even a minor delay could easily cost us the fifteen-minute grace period.

In my previous life, that was exactly why I fought so hard to stop them—so no one would miss the exam. I had no idea it would cost me my life.

Now, seeing me hesitate, Maggie rolled her eyes. “Seriously? We’re all took part in Sky University prep class. Even if we start fifteen minutes late, we’ll still finish the test with time to spare.”

“Ask around—who here wasn’t planning to finish early anyway? Half of us breeze out thirty minutes before the bell. And let’s be honest, without us, the whole exam’s a joke.”

Around me, my classmates checked their watches, then nodded in agreement.

“We’ve aced every mock test—always ranked first in the whole city.”

“Even if we’re late, teachers will understand. It’s not like we were messing around—we’re doing a good deed.”

“Ugh, it’s the biggest exam of our lives and she’s still acting like some self-righteous class president. So annoying.”

They knew full well: we were just city champs in practice tests.

But the college entrance exam is a different beast—tens of thousands of students competing nationwide. The top are actual prodigies.

I wanted to speak up—but the memory of how they had once pleaded for Maggie, their ugly, two-faced expressions from that time made my body tremble slightly, my heart turn cold as stone.

I looked up and gave everyone a radiant smile. “You’re right. Since everyone agrees, then go ahead.”

Maggie narrowed her eyes at me, clearly suspicious. “You… you’re really not going to stop me from trying to help?”

I simply nodded and turned away from her. Instead, I grabbed my things, stood up and said firmly, “I’m getting off the bus.”

The driver slammed the brakes a little too hard—nearly rear-ending the car in front of us. His voice was anxious as he tried to talk me out of it. “Hey, this isn’t a good time to get off. You’ll have a hard time finding another ride and walking there will wear you out. How will you take your college entrance exams like that?”

“Trust me,” he added, “I'll take you all back once you're done helping whoever this person. It won’t affect your exam, I promise.”

I rejected him calmly. “Go save whoever you need to save. You don’t need to worry about me.”

I took a few steps toward the door, but the driver raised his voice again. “Hold on! Your teacher and some of the parents are in the cars behind us. If you get off now, they’d begin to question the others!”

The entire class turned to look out the windows. Sure enough, familiar cars were following behind us. One of them even honked in response. Then came the wave of phone chimes as messages poured in from parents and teachers asking if everything was okay, sensing something was off.

Maggie quickly typed a reply in the class group chat: [It’s nothing! We’re just on the bus hyping each other up and trying to relax before the exam]

She looked up at everyone and reminded them, “Don’t breathe a word of what we talked about to our parents. They won’t get it. If they find out, they’ll flip out and the concert will be off for sure!”

Before the exams, Maggie had bragged that she knew a guy who could get cheap tickets to the pop queen’s concert—VIP seats, too. She invited the whole class. Everyone signed up and they’d been planning it for days.

The said concert was being held in the less secure parts of the country and I was worried about everyone’s safety. When I tried to talk them out of going, they started cutting me off. Up until today, the entire class had been planning the concert trip behind my back.

Some students who had originally considered telling their parents the truth quietly put their phones down. But now that the excitement had cooled off, a few of the more anxious ones were starting to get nervous.

“If my mom finds out I was late to the college entrance exam, she’s going to skin me alive.”

“There’s only 35 minutes left until the exam starts. Honestly, there’s no way we can go help and make it back in time… maybe we shouldn’t go after all.”

“Saving someone is risky. We should just call the police and let them handle it.”

A few others murmured their agreement, but then, the bolder students scoffed.

“Look at you guys—freaking out like that. You’re embarrassing the Sky University prep class.”

“We’ve got twenty people here. That’s basically an entire admissions brochure. Even if we’re late, they’ll give us a special pass.”

“Exactly! They won’t punish us all. And think about it—we’re saving someone. That’s headline material. We’ll be all over the national news!”

I almost laughed out loud at that point.

That’s when I realize: these kids had gotten so used to being favored—by teachers, by parents—because of their grades, especially now during exam season. They were being treated like royalty. No wonder they were so full of themselves.

They’d forgotten something important, the college entrance exam isn’t just about them. It’s about their entire families. The parents in those dozen or so cars behind us had sacrificed just as much, if not more, than their kids. Then, seeing people take her side, Maggie excitedly dropped a screenshot into the class group chat.

The entire group went loud.

“A $9 million reward for rescuing someone?! That’s $300,000 each! What are we even doing going to an exam? Let’s go save them now!”

“If this is real, then Maggie’s basically our guardian angel!”

“Of course it’s real! Come on, it’s Maggie. You know how connected she is—she’s practically on her way to becoming a celebrity after the exams!”

“What about the people who said they weren’t going? Hurry up and get off the bus so the rest of us can split a bigger cut!”

I quickly opened my phone and saw the message Maggie had sent to the group—a reward poster for someone named Axel Burton. The poster looked slick and convincing. If I hadn’t known from my past life that Axel was never in danger, I might’ve believed it myself.

When everyone says Maggie has “connections,” what they really meant was that she cozied up to a few people from the nightlife scene. She’s good-looking and she used that to land a cheap local gig in a sketchy poker app commercial.

The rumor mill had already turned that into: She’s a model. She’s about to sign with a major talent agency the moment she graduates.

The classmates who were hesitant before got completely blinded by the promise of money now.

Seeing the mood shift, the driver took his chance—sped up, cut off the cars following us and turned down a side road.

He beamed, clearly pleased with himself. “A reward that big? Man, today must be my lucky day. Not only did I get to drive a bus full of future college stars, now there’s a cash prize in it too!”

“This shortcut goes straight to the outskirts—30 minutes round trip. You’ll be back just in time. By the time you get that reward money and get into Sky University? You’ll be living the dream!”

The whole class couldn’t contain their smiles anymore. You could see it on their faces—they were already fantasizing about their perfect futures.

But something about the driver’s sudden change in route, his over-the-top enthusiasm… it made my stomach twist. I glanced at my watch. Only 25 minutes left until the exam started.

I couldn’t wait around any longer. Without thinking, I stepped forward and knocked hard on the panel separating the driver from us. “Let me out. Now. I don’t want to save anyone and I don’t want the money.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of the driver’s ID badge. Brook Doyle.

Doyle? The same last name as Maggie?

A chilling suspicion was starting to take shape in my mind.

No wonder that in my past life, I needed to call the police before this entire mess finally stopped. Maggie was insistent on dragging the entire class into skipping the most important exam of our lives to go "rescue" someone. Turns out she and the driver knew each other from the start. That’s the only way they could’ve pulled this off so smoothly, manipulating the whole class like it was nothing.

The driver must’ve sensed something had changed in me, because he didn’t respond and hit the gas and sped up instead. The testing center was getting farther and farther away.

My voice trembled with panic. “Let me off the bus. Now! Or I’m calling the cops!”

Maybe they could afford not to care about the college entrance exam—but I couldn’t. My family wasn't rich. I was the first in my family to even have a shot at getting into Sky University.

My relatives always said my parents were lucky to have such a smart, responsible daughter. But I was not a genius—I just worked harder than anyone I knew. The mountain of practice problems I’d finished could fill a room. The pens I’d used up, the calluses on my fingers, my worsening eyesight, my receding hairline—every bit of it was earned. My mom waking up at 4 a.m. to make me nutritious breakfasts. My dad driving me to school every day, rain or shine.

The exam was my whole life. The culmination of everything I’d fought for. I had to deliver the perfect answer sheet.

When the driver still refused to stop, I snapped. I pulled out my metal compass from my bag, the sharp end pressing against his throat. “Let me off. Now!”

The entire bus went silent. Everyone froze, stunned by how far I was willing to go.

Someone said, “…Maybe we did go too far. If he wants to get off, just let her.”

Cold sweat dripped down the driver’s face. He slammed the brakes.

Maggie shot me a furious glare and snatched my phone. “You can leave, but I’m keeping this. Don’t want you calling the cops.”

We were nearly in the suburbs now. The streets were empty, cars nowhere in sight. Without my phone, I’d have no way to call a cab or even get help.

With only twenty minutes left, there was no way I could run to the exam center in time.

My expression hardened. “No. I won’t call the cops. I promise. I don’t care what you’re all planning—I just want to take my exam.”